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Front Row: Jonathan Pryce, Survival literature, Fictional politicians

13/12/2019

Jonathan Pryce, Survival literature, Fictional politicians

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Jonathan Pryce, Survival literature, Fictional politicians

Jonathan Pryce on playing one of The Two Popes, and survival fiction.

Actor Jonathan Pryce discusses his role as the future Pope Francis in The Two Popes; Alex Wheatle, Katherine Rundell and Katie Hale on survival literature; Fictional politicians.

The Two Popes is a based on true events, the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of his successor, Francis. It's also a double act by two great Welsh actors, Jonathan Pryce, Francis, and Anthony Hopkins, Benedict. Jonathan Pryce discusses his role, the story of their unlikely friendship and what the film is really exploring - the nature of forgiveness.  

300 years after the publication of Robinson Crusoe, which some claim is the first novel ever written, novelists Katherine Rundell and Katie Hale consider the continuing allure of its narrative of survival against the odds and how its complex post-colonial racist narrative reads in 21st century Britain.  

Presenter Stig Abell
Producer Jerome Weatherald

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